Fallen Kingdom
by dorope
Summary: Protests and revolts against the king and royal family have been going around the Kingdom of Hyrule. Zelda is the sole surviver of a assasination attempt on the royal family. Having to flee from the castle, accompanied by Link, a childhood friend, she tries to bring restore order to the kingdom and take back her thrown.


Chapter 1

[Zelda]

The only sound I heard was the one of my own footsteps. Tap, tap ,tap it went, as I ran down the stone steps of Hyrule Castle. It seemed as though no one but me was here, as if the entire Castle was empty. I've never quite gotten used to that place, even though I've lived here ever since I was a kid.

Back then I used to sneak out of here, into castle town. My father used to be furious when I did that. But most times he was too busy ruling the kingdom to even notice. The real problem were the royal guards. Somehow, the always managed to find me, no matter where I was hiding.

I went through an archway into a huge hall, made of grey stone. The room was pretty much ancient, so cracks ran through the stone walls. It was temporarely used as a library, though when I was younger, my father used to tell me an old legend, of three stones with unimaginable power, which where stored here. Well, maybe "stored" is the wrong word for it, but you know what I mean. I walked quickly around the huge bookshelfs, searching for a specific book. But it was not to be found.

"Dammit, it's not here! Where could it possibly be?"

I looked around, panicky. There! I spotted it on the table, in the middle of the library. I walk over to carefully pick it up. It's worn-out leather cover was died in a dark red, with several golden and silver ornamentations. I put it under my arm and went immediately back outside. I tried to run, but my dress got in the way and I was afraid, I might rip it. It's an emerald green silk dress, which I got for my 15th birthday the year before. It's similar to the one my mum used to wear when she was about my age. I hurried into the palace garden. It's the beginning of the summer, so the sun is shinig warmly and everything is green. I could already see my dad from afar,who was standing next to the hero's monument, which is, like the name suggests, to honer the heroes from hundreds of years ago who died in order to protect the royal family from the great evil that was called Gannon. The heroes were one of the many princesses who came before me and her brave knight and lover. It is said, that the princess had magical powers and the knight had a legendary sword, with which they sealed away the evil. I wasn't sure about the whole "great evil" and "magical power" nonesense, but I did believe those two people lost there lifes in order to save the rest of the royal family and the kingdom, and I am very proud to have an ancestor like this princess.

My dad nervously turned around and looked at the archway, which leads directly to the entrance of the palace garden and back to the part of the castle in which the library is in. When he spotted me, he looked relieved.

"What were you doing so long? And by the way, where are all of the castle servants?"

I look at him, a bit annoyed.

"They are busy with the feast for tonight that _you_ wanted. And you were the one who forgot to bring the book in the first place!"

Ignoring my accusations, he simply went on asking.

"All of them? Seriously?!"

"Well, its going to be a big feast."

He shushed me.

"Psst, here they come!"

He took the book out of my hands and put on a friendly smile. "They" are the next generation to be trained in hyrule castle, the next royal guards to-be, if you will. That is also what the feast is for tonight. 15 boys, the best of the best in the entire country, coming here in orther to be awardet as students of Sir Michellor, an almost legendary swordsman. There would then be announced _Royal Knights_ , which was a big honor.

But as expected, it was still a real pain. The ceremony takes place, as mentioned, in the palace garden in front of the monument and consists of the king reading the 152 benefits and disadvantiges to them, which are pretty much the job description and then they have to vow on staying loyal to the king and the kingdom. As it sounds, 152 is a lot. The rule of the princess in it all, that is, mine, is to stand next to the king and smile. Which is hard, considering the ceremony lasts for 4 astonishing hours.

Seeing _him_ next to the other 14 boys didn't make it any more fun.

Of course I read his name on the list of the students before, so I wasn't quiet as shocked as I probably would have been. But still, seeing his face and his blond, shoulderlong hair made me both happy and incredibly uneasy at the same time. After the ceremony I gave my congratulations together with a badge and then dissapeared as fast as my dress would let me. Still, not fast enough.

"Zelda?", he said, as he caught up to me.

I froze. _Move, move dammit_!, I thought to myself.

"Is that you?"

I let out a nervous laugh. "Ah..Ahaha! It's been long, hasn't it? How have you been?" I smiled at him akwardly. He looked back with an icy look in his eyes. _Gulp_. "W-well, I should be going then", I said while turning around and continuing the route of the escape plan.

He didn't stop me.

I stayed in my room until the feast began, reading a book, like always. My lady in waiting came to make my hair and help me dress for tonight but nothing else really happened. Life in the castle was boring. But I couldn't complain, there are people who had it much much worse than me. Though, sometimes, I secretly wished to be a normal girl. I was almost glad when the servant finally came to get me.

"Let's get it over with", I said to myself with a sigh.

During the feast I sat next to Alex, a nice young man, with 15 years probably the youngest of them. He kept me company, though I did catch myself sneaking a look at _him_.

"...and then he said he only wanted to take a closer look at! What a liar, can you believe it! Some people just can't admit when they've been caught!"

He laughed and shaked his head. Suddenly he became serious and looked into the distance. "I'm really worried about the protests though. There are some seriously crazy folks' there."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What protests?"

He looked at me weirdly. "You know, the ones against the royal family. That's the reason I wanted to become a knight even though I'm still young. I'm so lucky I got in though! It's an honour to serve you and your father, your highness", he smiled at me.

"I'm surprised you don't know about that, I mean-OH NO."

He suddenly covered his mouth and stopped talking.

"Yes, that is strange. Why don't I know about these protests?", I asked coldly.

"Forget about what I just said! Please! It was just rumors, stones and sticks!", he said anxiously, waving his hands wildly. Ignoring him I stood up from my seat and walked towards my father. He stopped talking when he saw me coming towards him.

"What is it, darling?", he asked as I stood in front of him with a stare that probably could have killed.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

He looked away sighing, which made me even angrier.

"I can't answer you if you don't tell me what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me! You know exactly what I mean!", I shouted at him. We got a few weird looks from the people sitting nearby, but most just went back to their own buisness after a quick glance.

My father continued: "I don't know what you're-""THE PROTESTS! I'm talking about the protests dammit!"

My fathers face went white."How do you... This doesn't concern you!"

"What, that there are protests against me and my father?! Why don't you ever tell me these things?! I'm just a dumb little princess who doesn't know anything to you, aren't I ?!"

"Look, I just did it to protect you!", my father tried to explain, but I interrupted him.

"Protect from what? The real world? Friends? A LIVE?"

"No, that's not-"

"I HATE YOU!", I screamed, tears welling up in my eyes. I turned and ran to my room, he tried to stop me, but I just ran past him, ignoring my dress this time. I locked the door. I let myself fall into the bed, crying my eyes out.

After that, I was just lying there, my sight blurry from the tears, my head aching terribly. I dried my tears and got up.

"Oh god! What have I done?" I walked towards the mirror. I let out a sarcastic laugh.

"I look terrible!" My eyes swollen, my hair ruined and my dress torrn. I brushed my hair, put on the green dress from earlier today and hoped the best for my swollen eyes.

"I should go apologize", I said to myself, even though I was still mad. The unlocked the door and started walking towards the main hall, where the feast had taken place. But it was completely silent. When I got there, the lights where out and nobody was in sight. _That's_ _strange. Is the feast over already?_

"Hello?", I asked into the empty room. The tables, plates, even part of the food where still there. _Shouldn't the servants be cleaning already?_ I slowly started to walk into the room, as I stumbled upon something. I looked down to see what it was.

I let out a long scream. It was Alex lying on the ground, dead.


End file.
